Former President Trump and Vice President Harris faced off for the first time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a debate moderated by ABC News on Tuesday.
The event was technically the second presidential debate of the election but was the first since President Biden ended his campaign and Democrats nominated Harris for president instead.
A variety of issues were broached during the debate and plenty of shots were taken at one another, but there were several moments that stood out more than others. Here are the top 5 moments from the match-up.
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1. Trump says he wanted to send Harris a MAGA hat
Trump said he “was going to send her a MAGA hat,” in reference to Harris, because he claimed the vice president has adopted his political philosophy on the campaign trail. “Everything that she believed three years ago and four years ago is out the window—she’s gone to my philosophy now,” he said during the debate.
Harris has notably reversed several policy stances she previously held while in the Senate and on the campaign trail in 2019 and has moderated ahead of the election against Trump.
“But, if she ever got elected, she’d change it,” Trump warned. “And it will be the end of our country. She’s a Marxist.”
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2. Trump says he ‘probably took a bullet to the head’ because of Biden-Harris rhetoric
The former president responded to warnings from Harris of him being an authoritarian in a second term by suggesting her and Biden’s remarks could have prompted the assassination attempt against him in July.
“This is the one that weaponized. Not me. She weaponized,” Trump said in response to Harris’ claims.
“I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things that they say about me,” he said. Trump was shot in the ear at a July rally in Pennsylvania before the Secret Service killed the shooter and escorted him offstage.
“They talk about democracy—I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy with the fake Russia Russia Russia investigation that went nowhere,” Trump added.
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3. Harris says she is not Joe Biden
The vice president told moderators, “clearly, I am not Joe Biden” after Trump slammed the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policy and said, “she is Biden.”
“She is trying to get away from Biden,” he said.
Harris responded, explaining that she is not Biden and adding that she is “certainly not Donald Trump.”
“What I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country,” she said.
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4. Harris stands by administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal despite criticism
“Do you believe you bear any responsibility in the way that withdrawal played out?” Harris was asked by a moderator.
“Well, I will tell you, I agreed with President Biden’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan.” she said.
“Four presidents said they would and Joe Biden did.”
During the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, 13 U.S. service members were killed in a terrorist attack. Trump also pointed out that the withdrawal left U.S. resources and equipment behind in the country in the unorganized departure.
Harris did not respond to the question posed by ABC’s moderators on whether she feels any responsibility for the nature of the withdrawal.
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5. Trump uses famous Harris line against her
Trump used a quip on Tuesday evening similar to one made famous in 2020 by Harris during the vice presidential debate.
“Wait a minute, I’m talking now if you don’t mind. Please,” the former president said.
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Harris could be seen on camera interjecting after Trump said she was a supporter of defunding the police. Her response could not be heard because her microphone was muted.
Trump’s quote was a callback to Harris’ own remark in 2020 to then-Vice President Mike Pence. “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking. I’m speaking,” she said at the time when Pence began to interject.
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